“Earth is blue.”
This was spoken by Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space on April 12, 1961, looking at Earth out of the atmosphere. Gagarin entered Earth’s orbit on the spacecraft Vostok 1 and flew around Earth for about one and a half hours and returned safely. He succeeded in flying a lonely and fearful flight that could not guarantee the pressure of the gravitational acceleration and his return alive, and he still remains a Russian hero.
At that time, there were many candidate cosmonauts excellent in flight, adaptability to sudden pressure changes, and expertise. Before the final successful candidate was announced, all the candidates were given the opportunity to board Vostok 1. Then, Gagarin, unlike other candidates, quietly took off his shoes and got on the spacecraft.
The panel of judges was touched by his show of respect, and it was the deciding factor that made him the first human astronaut. His small, sincere act led to a great result.
“Seeing him removing his shoes, I had trust in him. I was able to see how much he valued the spacecraft.”Vostok 1 Builder Sergei Korolev